This week, the lovely and talented Heather was kind enough to handle reviewing duties while I attempt to shovel out from under the five feet of snow that’s been dumped on Buffalo.

Source: http://www.tvfanatic.com

Title Diary of a Mad Indian Woman

Two-Sentence Summary Danny finds, reads, and accidentally spills wine on Mindy’s diary and discovers that she is hoping for a proposal before Christmas, or she may have to walk away from their relationship. Meanwhile, Mindy fulfills her job as teacher in the practice’s affiliated teaching hospital.

Favorite Line “Good evening, fine pupils … I am honored, elated — nay, overjoyed — to man the helm of this exquisite ship of your education.” (Tamra)

My Thoughts There are some shows that I just enjoy watching and The Mindy Project is one of them. It always makes me laugh, and this episode in particular was fantastic for that. So many different moments in Mindy’s teaching subplot cracked me up—from Tamra’s overly flowery speech and Mindy’s reaction to Peter whispering in her ear to Jean’s reaction to Mindy saying that the person she mentored the most was herself. It was funny, and that’s often what I want most from a comedy.

It was nice to see Mindy try to teach the residents and in particular, I liked seeing Mindy try to improve Candace’s confidence because I think it was actually coming from a good place. Shy and timid will never be words used to describe Mindy Lahiri, and her confidence has gotten her very far. So it seems natural that it would be something she’d want to encourage in others. From a comedy perspective though, I loved even more that she was utterly unsuccessful. I was not expecting Candace to very confidently tell Mindy she didn’t want to be like her while not improving as a doctor at all. Mindy may have failed as Candace’s mentor, but she was surprisingly good with T.J. during their conversation at the gym. And of course, I love that Mindy will always be Mindy and bask in the things she did well and ignore everything that she didn’t because that’s just who she is.

I was less thrilled with Danny’s plot as a whole, though it still had its funny moments. I like where I think this plot is headed; I’m just not as certain that I liked the way this relationship arc was started. I am a curious person. I understand why Danny was tempted to read Mindy’s diary. Despite understanding, that didn’t stop me from yelling at him the whole time. No good can come from reading someone else’s diary without permission, not on a TV show and not in real life. Diaries are private for a reason, and they should remain that way. What they are very good for is circumventing actual communication, which I don’t love, even if I understand why shows sometimes go that route.

All that said, I trust this show and Mindy Kaling as a writer. I don’t think we are in for heartbreak with Danny and Mindy, which means that proposal is coming at some point. So I’m looking forward to watching Danny’s continued growth, and I will hold out hope for an actual conversation about this at some point. I believe in these two and I think that those in charge of the show do as well. So I am confident that the conclusion of this arc will be worth any of my misgivings over how it began.

Finally, while unrelated to anything about the plot, this show does tiny character details so well. From Mindy’s pink eye patch that of course she already owned to Jeremy’s mastery at calligraphy and forgery, every piece of information we get about a character makes so much sense, even if it shouldn’t. It’s a sign of great writing and development, and it’s a pleasure to watch each week.